Friday, 30 June 2017

It is the official postcard of the Postcrossing Meet-up at the International Mail Sorting Center. The International Mail Sorting Centre is located at Frankfurt Airport and is responsible for the handling of international mail. It processes 3million letters and 20000 parcels every day.

The card was signed during the meet-up.
Stamp:
Glücksburg Castle (from set of two) (issued 02-01-2013)

One of them shows colourful trishaws in Malacca City. Malacca City is the capital city of the Malaysian State of Malacca. It was a Portuguese, Dutch and at the end British colony. Since 2008 is Malacca City together with George Town on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

General Meeting of the International Military Sports Council (issued 09-05-2006)

Society for Preservation of Italian Culture in Dalmatia (issued 10-02-2006)

Stamp Jubilees (from set of three) (issued 31-03-2001)

XX Winter Olympic Games (from set of nine) (issued 08-02-2006)

Inside was a fascinating booklet about World War I with a focus on the Trentino.

At the beginning of World War I the Trentino was at the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. To secure the border the Austro-Hungarian Empire built many fortresses along it. In 1915 Italy declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the border became a frontline. It was the first time that a war was fought in the high mountains. This part of the war became known as Gebirgskrieg ("Mountain War") in German and Guerra Bianca ("White War") in Italian. Around 11500 soldiers from the Trentino lost their lives and many towns and villages were destroyed. After World War I the Trentino became a part of Italy.

Wednesday, 28 June 2017

On Thursday I got two postcards: one from New Zealand and one from Germany.

The card from New Zealand shows a Tuatara. The Tuatara are the last genus of the order of the Rhychocephalia having lived in abundance some 200million years ago. They grow extremely slowly to approximately 60cm in length and mature sexually at about 20 years. They can become 100 years old.

With a matching stamp:
Native Wildlife (from set of five) (issued 07-03-2007)
Surf Breaks (from set of five) (issued 07-06-2017)
He Tohu (from set of three) (issued 17-05-2017)

On Thursday I got two postcards: one from Germany and one from New Zealand.

The card from Germany is the official card of this year's Kiel Week. The Kiel Week is an annual sailing event in Schleswig-Holstein's capital Kiel. It is one of the largest sailing events in the World and also one of the largest funfairs in Germany.

I got this card a few weeks ago in a cover.

Stamp:
Lighthouses (from set of two) (issued 08-06-2017)
with a special postmark from the Kiel Week

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Last Tuesday I visited the Städtisches Museum in Braunschweig and there I bought two postcards for my collection.

The Städtisches Museum in Braunschweig was founded in 1861. It shows exhibits of Braunschweig's history and other items donated by Braunschweig's civics. Today is the Städtisches Museum one of the most important art- and culture-historical museums in Germany.

Sunday, 25 June 2017

It shows the Hexenbürgermeisterhaus in Lemgo. The Hexenbürgermeisterhaus was built between 1568 and 1571. It is said to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the style of the Weser Renaissance. Between 1667 and 1683 Hermann Cothmann lived in the house, who made a major contribution to the witch trials in Lemgo. Today the house houses a museum about Lemgo's town history and the witch trials.

Thursday, 22 June 2017

One of them shows the Lion Gate at Mycenae. Mycenae is an archaeological site in the north-eastern Peloponnese. In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilisation and became the name giver of the Mycenaean civilisation, the first advanced civilisation in mainland Greece. It played a vital role in the development of classical Greek culture. Since 1999 are the Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

With a nice stamp:
2400 Years since the Birth of Aristotle (from set of three) (issued 23-05-2017)

One of them shows the Pantanassa Monastery in Mystras. Mystras is a Byzantine ruined city. In the 14th and 15th century it experienced a period of prosperity and cultural flowering, when it was the capital of the Byzantine Despotate of the Morea. Later it was occupied by the Turks and the Venetians. In 1832 the city was abandoned. Since 1989 is the Archaeological Site of Mystras on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Stamp:
2400 Years since the Birth of Aristotle (from set of three) (issued 23-05-2017)

Wednesday, 21 June 2017

One of them is Papersisters' German Landmark postcard of Thuringia. Thuringia is one of the States of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located in Eastern Germany and borders on Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse. It was founded after the German Reunification and is one of the smaller states. The state is home to many important cultural heritage sites. Erfurt is the capital and largest city of Thuringia. The only other big city in the state is Jena.

One of them shows the Lighthouse Kiel-Holtenau. The Lighthouse Kiel-Holtenau is located at the entry of the Kiel Canal and was inaugurated in 1895. It is said to be one of the most beautiful lighthouses in Germany.

I got this card a few weeks ago in a cover.

With a matching stamp:
Lighthouses (from set of two) (issued 08-06-2017)
with a matching special postmark

The Pilsum Lighthouse (upper row middle) was built between 1889 and 1891, but already in 1915 it was deactivated. It is one of the best-known symbols of East Frisia and grew in popularity as a result of a film by comedian Otto Waalkes.

The Bremerhaven Front Light (upper row right) is in operation since 1893. It is known for its unique form.

With matching stamps:
Lighthouses (from set of two) (issued 08-06-2017)
Ottifant (issued 01-03-2017)
with a special postmark from Bremerhaven

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from France, one from China and one from Belgium.

The card from France shows the paintings from the Lascaux Cave. The Lascaux Cave is located in the Vézère Valley in the department of Dordogne. The cave's walls are covered with paintings of large animals, which date back 17000 years and are the combined effort of many generations. It was discovered in 1940. As one of the Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley is the Lascaux Cave since 1979 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from Belgium, one from France and one from China.

The card from Belgium shows Gaasbeek Castle. Gaasbeek Castle was built in the 13th century and was inhabited by various noble families. Today it houses a museum.

With a great matching stamp:
EUROPA (issued 10-06-2017)
with First Day Special PostmarkThe sand castle on the stamp is based on real Belgian castles including Gaasbeek Castle. As extra the stamp also has sand texture.

On Thursday I got three postcards: one from China, one from Belgium and one from France.

The card from China was printed for the International Meet-up in Ningbo. After the first International Meet-up was held in Singapore and Wuxi on 15th January 2017, a second International Meet-up was held on 7th May in Ningbo and Chennai in India.

Does anybody still have a card signed in Chennai? I would be happy to swap for one!

The card was signed during the meet-up
Stamp:
Special-use Stamp for Greeting Cards (from set of four) (issued 08-08-2013)

Monday, 19 June 2017

On Tuesday I got my order from An Post, which included some Irish stamps about World War I.

During World War I Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom, but during the war the discontentment with the British rule rose and during the Easter Rising in 1916 even an independent Irish Republic was proclaimed, which was quelled shortly after. Of the 200000 Irishmen who fought during the war around 50000 died. In 1922 the Irish Free State was created.

The RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner. As consequence of the unrestricted submarine warfare of the German Empire during World War I the ship was sunken on 7th May 1915. 1198 passengers died including 128 citizens of the USA. The sinking caused a storm of protest in the United States and helped shift public opinion in the United States against the German Empire. Afterwards the submarine warfare was discontinued until 1917.

Centenary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania (issued 07-05-2015)

The Battle of the Somme was fought from the 1st July until the 18th November 1916 between the German Empire and the Triple Entente countries France and the United Kingdom. The battle started with a large-scale offensive of the Triple Entente and ended without an achievement. It was the fiercest battle of the World War I.

Centenary of the Battle of the Somme (issued 23-06-2016)

The Battle of Messines Ridge was fought on the Western Front near the village of Messines in West Flanders in June 1917. The battle resulted in a British victory and the recapturing of the Messines Ridge. During the battle Irish soldiers, supporting and opposing the ideas of the Easter Rising, fought together.

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

One of them is from the Zoological Garden of Halle. The Zoological Garden of Halle was founded in 1901. It is one of the smaller zoos. The zoo is located on a small mountain and is thus also known as Bergzoo (Mountain Zoo). Due to its location the zoo specialises in animals from the mountains. Since the 1980s more importance is placed on species-appropriate husbandry.

The postcard was signed during the Postcrossing Meet-up in Halle.
Stamp:
Lighthouses (from set of two) (issued 08-06-2017)

Monday, 12 June 2017

On Friday I visited the Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial and there I bought some cards for my collection.

The Dora Concentration Camp was established near Nordhausen in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The camp was founded as safe production place of Nazi Germany's V-1 and V-2 weapons, after the facilities at Peenemünde had been destroyed. Thousands of forced labourers from different countries produced the weapons and also constructed the shanties for the camp, which was still under construction. In summer 1944 it became an independent concentration camp and was renamed to Mittelbau. It was the last independent concentration camp founded by the Nazis, at a time when the war was actually already lost. The US Army liberated the camp on 11th April 1945, but the SS was earlier able to evacuate most of the prisoners. Around 20000 prisoners lost their lifes at the camp. In 1964 the East German government opened a memorial at the site, which developed into an extensive memorial complex after the Reunification.

The Crematorium is the only surviving aboveground building at the memorial complex. In the early days of the memorial it was used as museum, but later it was arranged to resemble the original state.

The Shaft is the most striking feature of the memorial complex and was the main reason to establish the camp at this place, as it was considered to be bombproof. Actually constructed as munitions dump in the 1930s, it became the place of the weapon production and first also the place were the prisoners lived. In 1947 the Soviets tried to destroy the shaft, but a detonation failed and only the entrance was destroyed. Between 1988 and 1991 a new entrance was built to make the shaft accessible for the public.

In 2005 a new museum was built at the memorial complex, which houses since 2006 a permanent exhibition about the concentration camp.